


The Brave Knight Roxilot

by MHMoony



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, feat. baby roxy, kingsman fambam bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 13:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12654750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MHMoony/pseuds/MHMoony
Summary: When Percival and James are called last minute on a mission, they need someone to watch over their niece they had already agreed to look after for the night. Luckily, they have on-call babysitters in Merlin and Harry.





	The Brave Knight Roxilot

**1998**

“She’s an absolute angel, so you don’t have to worry about her misbehaving at all.”

“And if she does, she has a time-out corner in the study.”

“She also has a toy chest, a costume chest, and a little tea table set in the living room.”

“Make sure she cleans up her toys, she usually does, but just in case. She also already ate dinner, so no need to worry about that.”

“Her favourite dessert is chocolate mousse and I whipped some up this morning, it’s in the fridge.”

“Do not give her more than one small cup.”

“Unless she does something terribly brilliant like when she laughs at—”

“ _Do not give her more than one small cup_.”

It became apparent to Merlin which of five-year-old Roxy Morton’s uncles were the more doting of the two. Percival stared sternly at his partner, but James still wore his pleasant grin on his face.

Somehow, himself and Harry had landed babysitting duties for Percival and James’s niece. The two were assigned a last minute mission, but had already agreed to watch the beloved daughter of Percy’s sister, and in an act of desperation, asked the two people they trusted most in the world to watch over her while they were on a simple reconnaissance mission. Merlin and Harry were both nervous at the thought of keeping an eye and entertaining a five-year-old girl, but from what Percival and James had told them, Roxy was one of the most well-behaved and pleasant children in existence. But then again, they were also somewhat biased (James especially).

Percival looked at his watch and cursed under his breath. “We’d better go, dear. Let’s go say goodbye to Rox.”

Percival and James lead Merlin and Harry into the living room where Roxy was quietly sitting on the couch flipping through a thin book titled _Sleeping Beauty_.

“She’s in the princess stage, then?” Harry asked.

“Ah,” James started, sharing a look with Percival, “of sorts.”

Before Merlin or Harry could question James’s hesitance, they both walked over to Roxy, James sweeping her up in his arms and into a tight hug, her giggles escaping her as she dropped her book.

“Uncle Percy and I are leaving now, alright, love?” James said.

Roxy pulled back from her uncle with a beaming face. “Okay, Uncle James.”

James passed her to Percy who smiled at her. “You’ll be good for Uncle Harry and Uncle Merlin, right?”

Roxy nodded enthusiastically. “Very good.”

Percy chuckled and kissed her cheek before sitting her back down on the couch. He and James turned to Harry and Merlin.

“Well, gents,” James said adjusting his tie, “we’re off. Have fun with the little one.”

Merlin nodded. “And good luck on your, er—”

“Have fun on your date!” Roxy called from her spot on the couch.

Harry let out a small laugh and Merlin’s lip twitched. “Yes, good luck on your _date_.”

James and Percival left soon after, leaving Harry and Merlin on their own with a five-year-old girl. She had picked up the book she had dropped and resituated herself on the couch, once again inspecting each page with deep interest.

Merlin was about to join her on the couch when he felt Harry tug at his arm. “Merlin, a word?” he mumbled. Merlin looked at Harry, his face etched with worry. He made one more glance at Roxy to make sure she wouldn’t be moving anytime soon before moving with Harry into the hall.

“What’s all this, then?” Merlin asked quietly.

“Well, you see,” Harry started, glancing between Merlin and the entryway into the living room, “I’m afraid I’ve, ah, never, well…hm. I don’t understand children.”

Merlin blinked. “You don’t…understand children?”

Harry nodded. “I’ve never been around them much, other than when I went over to see Lee’s wife and son.”

Harry’s eyes flashed the smallest bit of pain mentioning his late Lancelot candidate, the loss of the young Unwin still a bit raw. Merlin took Harry’s hands in his own and soothingly rubbed the back of his knuckles with his thumbs.

“You’re going to do fine, love,” Merlin reassured. “James _and_ Percival both attested to her behaviour, so I’m sure that she won’t throw a fit when you can’t discuss deep theory about Pingu.”

Harry looked at him perplexed. “What the devil is a Pingu?”

Merlin bit back a laugh. “Nothing you’ll have to worry about, I’m sure. Now, come on, we’ve left her alone long enough.”

They walked back into the living room (Harry, albeit, a bit reluctantly), and Merlin went over to her and sat down on the middle of the couch next to Roxy, Harry awkwardly taking the spot on the other side of him.

“So, Roxy,” Merlin started, “what would you like to do?”

Roxy gave Merlin a polite smile and offered him her book. “Could you please read this to me?”

“Oh, I can definitely do that,” Merlin said taking the book from her and opening it to the first page. “From the beginning, then? Alright,” he cleared his throat, “Once upon a time—”

“Wait, Uncle Merlin!” Roxy interrupted him and hopped of the couch, going over to one of the chests against the wall.

She opened it, going onto her tip-toes to reach for something inside. A moment later, she pulled out a rather large homemade quilt, more than half of it dragging across the floor as she brought it back to the couch. She climbed in between the space between Merlin and Harry, squirming until she was securely snug, sandwiched between the two of them, before draping one side of the blanket across Harry’s lap and the other across Merlin’s.

“This is our special Reading Blanket,” she explained quiet seriously. “We can’t read a story together without it.”

Merlin smiled fondly at her and shared a look with Harry, who looked to be somewhere between bewildered, delighted, and apprehensive. He bit back another laugh at him and adjusted his side of the blanket before turning back to the book.

“Are we all ready to read now?” he asked.

Roxy gave him a toothy grin and nodded. “Yes, please!”

“Good.” Merlin reopened the book to the first page and began reading. “Once upon a time…”

As Merlin read, emphasizing parts when necessary, he noticed Roxy becoming more and more comfortable, relaxing and snuggling up against Harry. She leaned into his side and, at first, it was clear Harry had no idea what to do, but Roxy didn’t seem to take any notice as she took his arm and wrapped it around her, holding onto his forearm and resting her head against his bicep as though it were one of her stuffed animals. Harry blinked at this turn of events, but then tried to hide a wide smile, though from who, Merlin didn’t know. He relaxed as well as Merlin continued reading, all three of them not moving from their spots until he finished.

“…and they lived happily ever after. The end.” Merlin closed the book and smiled, looking up at Roxy and Harry.

Harry smiled back at him. “Wonderful, darling, just wonderful.”

Roxy sat up straight with wide eyes and another toothy smile. “It really really was! Thank you so much!” She then turned around to face Harry. “You’re a very nice pillow, Uncle Harry.”

Merlin and Harry laughed.

“Well, you are quite comfortable yourself,” Harry replied.

A message from Percival began flashing on Merlin’s glasses, and he pressed a finger to the side of his frames to read it.

_Mission ended faster than planned. Will be back in about an hour or so._

Merlin quickly forwarded the message over to Harry who nodded to him after reading it.

“Well, Roxy,” Harry said, “now what would you like to do?”

Roxy’s eyes lit up. “Can we play Sleeping Beauty?”

Harry’s eyes flickered towards Merlin for a brief moment before returning his attention back to Roxy and smiled. “Of course we can.”

Roxy bounced and clapped her hands. “Yay!” She climbed beneath the blanket to get off the couch and skipped over to the other chest and opened it, once again balancing on her tip-toes to retrieve the necessary items. One by one, she carefully placed various costume items onto the ground next to her: a princess tiara; a wizard’s hat, cape and wand; and a knight’s helmet, shield, and sword.

First, she grabbed the wizard gear and brought it to Merlin. “You’ll be the fairy because your name is Uncle Merlin!”

Merlin heard Harry choke back a laugh and sent him a small glare when Roxy turned her back to them to retrieve the next costume pieces. Picking up the plastic tiara, Merlin had to bite back his own laugh as she brought it to Harry, innocently looking up to him and smiling.

“You’ll be Sleeping Beauty because your hair is so pretty,” she said with the kind of earnesty only a child could possess.

Merlin did let out a small laugh at that, but quickly hid it behind a cough. “That is an excellent casting choice, Roxy.”

Roxy beamed at him and gestured for Harry to tilt his head down. When he did, she gently placed the tiara on top of his head. “Perfect!” she said, proud of her handiwork.

Harry lifted his head back up and looked at Merlin, wordlessly daring him to make a comment. Merlin said nothing, but surreptitiously took stills with his glasses.

“And I’m gonna be the Brave Knight Roxilot!” Roxy exclaimed as she put on her helmet and strapped the small shield to her arm, and then brandished her sword.

With her free hand, she tugged at Merlin’s sleeve. “We have to save Princess Harry from the dragon.”

As he got up and followed Roxy over to the other side of the room, Harry lied down and placed the quilt on top of him. He closed his eyes to take on his role as Sleeping Beauty, and Merlin decided this was quite possibly one of the best nights of his life.

Over the next hour, Merlin threw attack spells at the fiery dragon beast along with healing and enhancement charms at the Brave Knight Roxilot (and exasperated sighs from both himself and the knight at Princess Harry to stay asleep and in character). As all make-believe stories go, they strayed a bit from the original, and after Princess Harry woke up (rather theatrically) with a kiss on his forehead, all three of them worked together to defeat the evil dragon. The Brave Knight Roxilot was especially delighted and impressed by Princess Harry’s magic umbrella that tied the dragon’s wings together and enchanted glasses that let them see where the dragon’s weak points were.

Finally, the dragon was slain and Princess Harry tossed the Brave Knight Roxilot into the air before catching her.

“Thank you so very much for saving me, Brave Knight,” he beamed at her.

It was a far cry from the nervous and apprehensive man who was anxious about spending the night with a five-year-old, and the love and adoration in Harry’s eyes warmed Merlin’s heart.

“That’s what knights do,” Roxy said proudly. “Can I try on your enchanted glasses, Uncle Harry?”

Harry locked the glasses accessibility with a touch as he took them off, gently placing them on Roxy’s face. They were too big for her, of course, and tilted slightly to the left, but Roxy held them in place.

“When I grow up, I want to be a real knight.”

Merlin raised his brow as he shared a look with Harry.

“Well, my dear,” Harry said, “I’m sure you will be a most excellent knight.”

Roxy looked at him with such wide and hopeful eyes. “You really think so?”

Harry looked around at the (slightly messy) living room. “If how you slayed the dragon tonight is any indication, then I have no doubt in my mind.”

Roxy smiled at him. “Can we have the chocolate dessert now, please?

“Just one small cup,” Merlin reminded. He purposefully ignored the conspiratorial grins the two of them shared.

They were sitting at Roxy’s small tea table eating their (second) cups of chocolate mousse when Roxy got out of her seat and made one more trip to the toy chest. She reemerged with a child’s yellow Kodak disposable camera.

“Uncle Percy told me that if you want to remember something, to take a picture of it, and I want to remember tonight forever.”

Merlin smiled warmly at Roxy and looked at Harry. He was already staring back at him, a soft smile on his face.

“I can say the same for us,” Merlin said getting up from his seat. Harry did the same and Roxy walked over to him and held her arms up, and Harry gladly and readily picked her up.

“Uncle Merlin, can you take the picture? Your arms are longer,” she asked handing the small camera over to him.

Merlin took it and positioned himself so Roxy was in between himself and Harry. “Alright,” he said, “on three. One, two, three.”

He pressed the button and a bright flash went off. Blinking away the contrasting light and dark blurs, he handed the camera back to Roxy. “I hope I got it,” he mumbled.

Harry was putting his glasses back on when they heard a rattle of keys and a door open, James’s voices ringing through the house.

“Roxy, love? We’re home!”

Percival and James walked into the living room and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight before them. Merlin in a wizard’s hat and cape, Roxy in her knight costume, and Harry proudly sporting the pink plastic tiara on top of his mop of hair.

“This is the best night of my life,” James muttered.

Merlin noticed Percival’s hand twitch, probably wanting to capture images with his glasses. “I already took a picture,” he said, gesturing to the small Kodak in Roxy’s hands.

“How did your…date go?” Harry asked.

“Ah,” Percival started, glancing at James, “the friend we were supposed to meet up with ended up not coming. Apparently, we were given the wrong address.”

“It wasn’t fruitless, though,” James continued. “We found another friend there. We’ll tell you all about it at work tomorrow.”

Merlin nodded. “Can’t wait to…debrief with you.”

“We played Sleeping Beauty!” Roxy interjected.

“Did you, love?” James said. “And did you save your Uncle Harry?”

Roxy smiled and nodded. “And he helped us slay the dragon by using his magic umbrella!”

James quirked an eyebrow and smiled. “Did he now? It’s a good thing he had that with him in his ivory tower. Come now, Roxy love, it’s time we let Uncle Merlin and Uncle Harry go on home.”

He walked over towards them and began to reach his hands out to Roxy, but Harry walked over towards Percival, leaving the three other men in a wake of confusion.

“Are you quite sure you want your date night to end already?” he asked.

Merlin stared at Harry in bewilderment. Of all the situations to happen tonight, needing to convince Harry to leave most certainly was not one of them. He made his way towards Harry and placed a hand at the small of his back.

“I’m sure they all had enough excitement for tonight,” he said. “And I am a bit knackered. Saving that pretty head of yours took a lot out of me.”

Harry downright pouted at Merlin before sighing. “Alright,” he muttered. He turned his attention towards Roxy. “It seems we must be off, Brave Knight Roxilot.”

Roxy leaned forward and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck in a hug. “Thank you for playing with me tonight, Uncle Harry.”

Harry smiled and held her close. “It was my pleasure, dear.”

Finally, he let James take Roxy from his arms, and Merlin took off his hat and cape, placing them in the costume chest. Harry’s tiara was gone from his head when Merlin turned back around to say goodbye to Roxy and her uncles.

“It was lovely spending the night with you, Roxy,” he grinned at her.

“If you ever need someone to watch her,” Harry said to James and Percival, “we will gladly offer our services.”

Merlin and Harry said their last round of goodbyes before finally exiting the house and getting into their car. As Merlin drove off, he heard Harry sigh next to him.

“So,” he started, “do you still not understand children?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Harry replied, “but Roxy and I understand each other perfectly.”

Merlin chuckled. “You two did hit it off.

They were silent for a few more moments before Merlin noticed something glint in his peripheral vision and let out a frustrated sigh.

“ _Harry_ , you’re giving back the tiara to James and Percival tomorrow.”

“No, I shan’t,” Harry insisted.

Merlin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Fine, but if either of them ask about it, I won’t be lying to them.”


End file.
